Rafi, Romana continue breaking records

Samiul Islam Rafi and Romana Akter set three new national records on the second day of Max Group 33rd National Swimming Championship at the Syed Nazrul Islam National Swimming Complex in Mirpur on Sunday.

Although Bangladesh Navy swimmer Rafi had expressed his concern over recovering from load in training, the 19-year-old set two more records yesterday after having set a new record in 50m backstroke on the opening day.

Rafi first broke the 200m individual medley record with a timing of 2min 09:99sec, wiping off the previous record of 2min 10:77sec set by Kajal Mia in 2023. The Olympian swimmer later set a new 200m backstroke record by clocking 2min 10:87sec, breaking his own record of 2min 11:86sec from last year.

The swimmer from Rajbari also participated in 100m freestyle, an event he competed in Paris Olympic Games, however, he failed to repeat his Olympic timing of 53.10sec. He finished the distance at a time of 53.28sec.

Rafi was happy with his overall performance and attributed it to the training he received in Thailand under a World Aquatics Federation scholarship for Paris Olympics.

"I have been gradually improving my timing despite having sat idle after the Paris Olympics. I lagged behind without training but then went to Thailand to continue training. I also struggled there to match with other swimmers which had made me worried," Rafi told reporters.

"However, we went through hard training; even trained 16 to 17 thousand metres every day along with exercise and gym. Now I am getting the rewards and I am really happy with that," concluded Rafi, who is now on top of individual medals tally with four gold medals.

Samiul Islam Rafi after setting his third record. Photo: Firoz Ahmed

Meanwhile, Romana of Bangladesh Army, who was out of swimming for nearly one-and-a-half years due to her assignment in UN peacekeeping mission in Sudan before her return in September last year, produced a record in 200m breaststroke after setting a record in 100m breaststroke on the first day.

Romana rewrote her own record in the 200m breaststroke by clocking 2min 51:35sec, breaking her own eight-year-old record of 2min 51:90sec.

"I am happy with my timing because I won another gold medal by creating another national record. I am looking forward to keep going with such performance," said Romana, currently in second position of individual medals tally with two gold medals and one bronze medal. Soniya Akter was on top alongside Rafi with four gold medals.